Life is Short, be Comfortable
The history of the thermostat
For those of you that read my newsletter regularly, you may have heard me reference a saying something like today’s photo. I happened upon this version of the quote which Jana Shine chose to self-attribute. It appears sayings much like this have been around a long time but nevertheless, I thank Ms. Shine for posting a nice image. I keep adding modest goals for my writing. One way to show modesty in this connected world is to defer to others who can explain things better. Today, I am going to focus on trying to add more links to my writing so that references I make are there for you to enjoy and I resist the urge to plagiarize. I am still intent to stick with a good music reference daily so look for that at the end.
I thought of today’s topic based on some work I did earlier this week. I had some work that I did myself since my handyman became unavailable. The property had an older humidifier that was no longer being used and an old-fashioned mercury thermostat. It reminded me of almost the very same device in my home growing up in the 1960s. I remember ours, just like this one was made by Honeywell. This is another gift to the world thanks to Minnesota where Honeywell makes its home. A while back in our book club we read about wartime mobilization and the importance of President Roosevelt’s redeployment of American industry to fight the Nazi scourge. The term which captured it well was the arsenal of Democracy. Honeywell was one of the many companies whose manufacturing was redeployed to make key components of the war effort.
Well, there I go again, time to get back to the story. The late cancellation of my handyman meant I would need to roll up my sleeves and do a bit of the work myself. I know my limitations and hence the importance of a reliable handyman. Nevertheless, some modest plumbing, electrical, and removing stuff is well within my wheelhouse. After dealing with a problem at the kitchen sink and a loose wiring problem at a switch, I pivoted to replacing a thermostat.
The space for controlling the environment at the property had a humidity controller and a thermostat. Here is a before photo as I began the process.
First I removed the humidity controller which was no longer terminated to the housing on the furnace in the basement. It was thought that controlling for the humidity in a home when a wood floor was installed was “good insurance”. Most HVAC specialists do not recommend these units anymore and are considered unnecessary even in the somewhat dry conditions we experience in the upper Midwest. So once the humidity controller was removed, it was time to carefully remove the Honeywell thermostat. Why be careful? Well in an older thermostat there is often a glass vial of mercury that does the work of closing a circuit to turn the furnace off and on. It is a rather ingenious electromechanical device for its time. Our recycling center will take such devices and properly dispose of them. The use of mercury is now highly regulated as it is a known nerve agent. When I was a child, school and craft projects often leveraged the work my dad did at a steel plant. A pretty impressive periodic table could be fashioned from example alloys dad might have access to at the plant. When we were building Cub Scout pinewood derby cars, mercury was the material of choice to use as it was a liquid metal that would transfer forward down an incline nicely. In the context of what we know today, the idea that we were using mercury in this way is quite funny and probably crazy. I know that the use of mercury is now banned by the Cub Scouts for obvious reasons. Spilling it on the floor means calling for a hazmat team.
My PSA for the day is regarding proper disposal. It is a very small effort to PROPERLY dispose of mercury. A very small amount does a REMARKABLE amount of damage to our world. Most utility companies offer rebates or a free replacement of the devices and most importantly safe disposal. There are only a few large sources of mercury left in our world. One is that it prevails in coal and oil that we burn. Another is the old thermostats in our home and finally, some alkaline batteries may contain some mercury. When you buy batteries try and ensure that you pay an extra penny or two for those that certify they are mercury-free. Mercury ends up in waterways and finally accumulates in shellfish. I love shrimp, crab, crawfish, and lobster so please do your part.
Once I pried the top cover off the thermostat, I figured out which screws attached it to the wall. For me, once that was off I was simply amazed by the mechanical complexity of this contraption. I had a working understanding of how thermostats of this type work but nevertheless was amazed by the components both mechanical and electrical on that little disk attached to the wall. It was also impressive to consider that the unit was more than 50 years old. Kudos to the men and women at Honeywell for a job well done. This was going to be a nice little upgrade as we would be installing a more modern version of the thermostat also made by Honeywell. Here are some photos of the lint and dust-filled mounting for the thermostat to the wall and the finished replacement.
As you can see I will have to come back and do some patching of the drywall. I was hoping the new larger unit might cover the two holes but no such luck for me. The next time I visit, it will just be a bit of patching and eventually some touchup with China Doll from Sherwin-Williams, our color of choice. Now it was time to do a little bit of complementary research and learn about the history of thermostats to round out the story. Remember, it is my thesis that almost everything of significance in this world has happened recently. I bid you farewell now for a bit.
For those of you who want to learn more, I found this article on the internet which does a fantastic job of explaining the history of the thermostat (including a shout-out to the founder of Honeywell). I recommend the article which I found fascinating. To me, the greatest thing about the article is it is posted on the website of the corporation Endesa which is a Spanish electric utility! We are all connected now and we can learn from each other with a click. We have been at it (thermostats) for about 500 years starting with incubating eggs (we’ve always focused on eating). Returning to my perspective, 2,000,000 years of homo-sapiens, 15,000 years of settling down instead of hunter-gathering, 500 years of thermostats. We have either been very busy lately or we finally conquered procrastination after 2,000,000 years!
Another recurring theme of my writing is how remarkably the age of Information is taking over for the Industrial age it supplanted. In the last 10 years or so, really smart thermostats have arrived. Here is an article from one of the trailblazers in the field named Ecobee and how connected thermostats came to be and why. Finally, as I mentioned earlier, all hail Minnesota and thank you Honeywell for keeping my home comfortable. For my frequent readers, you have come to know that no post is complete until I attach a song. The accompanying video includes footage from the movie it was the theme song for in the soundtrack. If you prefer a different era of music, here is Dean Martin with a classic. See you tomorrow I hope.
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